We must be getting close to Halloween because there are some weird and spooky things going on this week in the NFL. One of those things was Baltimore going to Cleveland to face the 1-6 Browns and leaving with a bad loss. Not sure if it’s a panic move for a team with a plethora of offensive options, but they traded for Panthers WR Diontae Johnson. In baseball, they say you can never do too much pitching. I suppose you can never have too many WRs, but Lamar Jackson now has another mouth to feed.
Just ask the Houston Texans if you can ever have too many WRs on your team. One of their three-headed monsters is now out for the season. Stefon Diggs tore his ACL on Sunday and is unavailable to CJ Stroud for the rest of the year.
Here are a few other crazy things that happened this week:
HAIL JAYDEN:
In the spirit of Halloween, Jayden Daniels wore an Aaron Rodgers costume and did his best impersonation on the last play of the game against the Bears. From his own 35-yard line, he danced around for what seemed like an eternity before heaving the ball toward the endzone. After a tip, the ball gently landed in Noah Brown’s hand in the endzone for a touchdown…. The game was over. It’s almost as if witchcraft was involved.
TAPPED OUT:
In one of the craziest things ever seen on a football field, second-year QB Anthony Richardson decided to tap out. Usually, a RB will tap his helmet if he needs a breather. This is commonplace, but it’s never seen by a QB…EVER. Well, that was until Sunday. Richardson has subsequently been benched and replaced by Joe Flacco. The Colts have some cover because when he was playing, Richardson was awful, completing less than a third of his passes. Maybe some entity invaded his body, forcing him out of the game.
MAKE THE NFL GREAT AGAIN:
After the 49ers big win against the Cowboys, QB Brock Purdy was being interviewed. In the post-game interview, defensive wizard Nick Bosa interrupted and jumped into the interview, wearing a political “Make America Great Again” cap, mostly seen at Donald Trump rallies. Bosa may be facing a fine for breaking an NFL rule…specifically Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8, which basically states a player cannot say or wear anything with a personal message during, before, or after a game within the parameters of that game. Bosa, wearing the gold MAGA hat (at least he was color coordinated), broke that rule and will surely be paying the price for it, lightening his wallet. Maybe the devil made him do it.
CAN THE COWBOYS REALLY LOSE AGAIN:
The Cowboys are in a death spiral and, at the midway point, find themselves below .500. They are on the road and face off against the first-place Atlanta Falcons. This almost feels like a reverse lock. Everything is pointing to another Cowboys loss and Falcons victory…but it is a week-to-week league that always tends to gravitate toward parity. They’ll have to put up a ton of points, but Vegas seems to think plenty will be scored, setting the o/u at 51.5. The Boys are getting 2.5pts…I’d take the pts and go over the number. As long as they score over 24 points, you’re guaranteed a split. They have to score more than 24 points.
CAN THE PATRIOTS REALLY WIN AGAIN?
Coming off a disastrous 1-6 start and six-game losing streak, the Patriots were able to defeat the equally dysfunctional Jets. But things didn’t look great at the half. They were down 13-7 and lost their rookie QB, Drake Maye, to a concussion. Jacoby Brissett came in and saved the day, putting up 18 points in the second half. They are now 2-6 with a little wind at the backs. They are heading to Tennessee to face another doormat. The Titans are a worse 1-6, which is where the Pats were last week. Can the Patriots actually string a couple of wins together and claw back to sort of a respectable 3-6? I think they will. Heading into this game, they legitimately could have two more wins under their belt and be sitting at .500 with a 4-4 record. But, as Bill Parcells always said, you are what your record says you are…and heading into Sunday, this is a 2-6 team heading into a stadium to play a 1-6 team. Someone’s getting their seventh loss on Sunday, and that’s uglier than the ugliest of costumes that may enter the field that day.
